My Heart Beats for You
by Heroine of the Valley
Summary: Probably my first Gundam drama. Anyway, Quatre has a heart attack and meets his mother during cardiac arrest.


I do not own Gundam Wing in any way, shape or form.

****

My Heart Beats for You

Quatre was with all his buddies at the gym enjoying a fierce workout. Quatre refrained from workouts most his life because it left him a bit lightheaded afterwards. But these were his friends, his comrades, they were the closest thing he ever had to brothers. Heero was on a work bench, bench pressing 300 lbs. Trowa was stretching and doing stunts on the uneven bars (he's quite the acrobat). Duo was doing biceps curls. Wufei was doing sit-ups and Quatre was swimming.

"I'm feeling the burn now!" Duo grunted, "78, 79, 80…Grrr! Shinigami's a manly man!" 

Heero laughed, but somehow kept the bar from falling on his chest.

Quatre did three laps of butterfly strokes (I'm not that much of a swimmer, but for those who are swimmers, butterfly is a _very_ hard stroke, isn't it? It looks hard enough!) And a few laps of sidestroke (another tough stroke).

Trowa did an amazing flip to one bar and back without falling. Wufei watched, making amused faces. He shook his head and muttered to himself, "show off…"

After many laps, Quatre pulled himself out of the pool and walked to the others as he picked up a towel and put hit around his shoulders. "Hey guys…"

Wufei did a last sit-up, "Whew…."

"Gosh, Wufei, you only did a hundred!" Duo shouted.

"I'm not a weakling, _weakling._" Wufei grumbled

"We've been here for hours," Trowa said, jumping from the bar.

"Let's go sit in the hot tub," Quatre offered, "I'm beat and I could use some relaxing."

"Sounds good," Duo let down the dumbbell.

"Gosh, Duo, you only did a hundred," Wufei said with a frown.

"Oh, be quiet!" Duo snapped.

Heero put his barbell on the holders and sat up, "would you guys give it a rest?" he asked, resting his elbows on his knees, "I only did a hundred too."

"Come on, guys," Quatre sighed. He wore red swim trunks with a green stripe on the sides. He turned and went to the hot tub and sat in there until the others came, which was a while. Duo said he'd do a hundred more if Wufei and Heero did. Trowa stayed and watched, certain than none of them could do it.

Duo put his foot in and jerked it out, trying to get in the water, "whoa….this can burn you!"

"It's not so bad, Duo," Quatre said smugly. "I bet you felt more heat in your gundam."

"Come on, Duo!" Wufei pushed him in and all the other guys laughed.

Duo stood up and swung his head side to side, whipping his wild braid at the others. 

"Whoa, watch it!" Heero grumbled, "Duo, relax, man." He pushed him in the water and sat next to him, "better?"

"We should do this more often, guys," Trowa said, leaning back, "it's good to keep ourselves in shape incase we have to save the world again."

Quatre began to feel very weak (that what happens when you sit in the hot tub too long, believe me, I know!) He thought he'd go swim so more so he stood up. "I'll be back, I'm going to go swim some more." Quatre said with a smile. He got out and just a few steps before the pool, he passed out on the ground.

"Quatre!" Trowa shouted, getting out of the hot tub. The others came right behind him and they sat at their fallen friend's side. 

Duo began slapping Quatre's cheeks, "Waaake up, Quatre! C'mon, man, waaaake up!"

A lifeguard came to him, "I think he's been in the hot tub way too long," she said, bending down. "Are you all right?"

Quatre was out of it. He looked up and his eyes were lifeless.

"We'd better get him to a hospital." Wufei urged.

"His sister's a doctor," Trowa said, taking an arm and putting it around his neck. "Let's go." Each pilot grabbed a hold of Quatre, Duo went to the locker room just to grab his flip flops, license and keys. He and the others didn't waste time changing into their street clothes.

"What do we got here?" Dr. Iria Winner asked, walking into the Emergency Room, unknown that her brother was there. A nurse was checking a boy's pulse Iria took one look at the boy and screamed.

"What is it, Doctor?" the nurse looked up.

"He's, he's my brother!" she made her way to Quatre's side, "Quatre, do you hear me?" She put her hands to his neck and felt a very weak pulse. "Good, god!" she cried. She put her stethoscope on his chest and got a very irregular heartbeat, "what the hell happened? Who brought him here?" she demanded, taking a light and shining it in Quatre's eyes, they were dilated.

"passed out at the gym," a nurse said. "But he should be okay."

"No, you don't understand," Iria looked up from her unconscious brother, "Quatre has a weak heart!"

"Ir-Iria?" Quatre mumbled.

"I'm here," Iria cooed, "do you remember what happened?"

Quatre's eyes were blank. His face was very pale, "no."

"His friends came with him," the nurse told Iria.

"The other gundam pilots," she stated. "Are they here?"

"They're waiting in the lobby." 

"Thank you," Iria said with a smile, "keep him stable." She walked out to the lobby. The Gundam pilots were still in their gym clothes. 

"How is he?" Duo asked. 

"Can you tell me what happened?" Iria demanded.

"He just…fell…" Duo mumbled.

"He said he was going to go swim some more," Heero said.

"How long were you at the gym?" she demanded.

"A few hours," Trowa said with a grim expression, "Quatre was swimming most of the time. He lifted weights for a little while."

"But what does that have to do with Quatre?" Wufei groaned.

"Quatre has a weak heart," she stated, "he can't do much."

"He never told us!" Duo cried, "and he's a gundam pilot!"

"I don't understand," Heero mumbled.

"Well, can you tell us if he's going to be all right?" Trowa asked. "Is he awake now, can we see him?"

"I'm afraid not." Iria said sadly, "he didn't just collapse, he had a heart attack. We might have to do surgery if his condition worsens."

"Surgery?"

"You can come back tomorrow," Iria told them, "now if you excuse me, I have to check on my brother." She went into the hospital room.

"I guess there's nothing we can do now," Duo moaned.

"Yeah," Heero murmured, "let's go back to the gym and get our stuff."

*******************************

Someone had to tell Dorothy, so Trowa went to her house. He waited a while before knocking on the door, _this girl almost killed Quatre, so what am I doing here?_ He sighed and then knocked nervouisly.

Dorothy opened the door a crack, raised an eyebrow, "didn't expect you to be here." She told him.

"Can I come in?" Trowa asked, "I need to speak with you."

"Sure," she opened the door, let him in and closed it. "What's up? You don't pay me any visits, Trowa Barton."

"Quatre's in the hospital," Trowa said flat out, walking down the hall.

"What?" she gasped. She grabbed his hand and turned him around, "how?"

"Collasped at the gym today," he murmured. "He had a heart attack."

"Oh no," she put her hand to her mouth, "is he?"

Trowa shrugged, "I don't know the details. His sister didn't really say much."

Dorothy was silent, "but _why_?"

"He just over did it, I guess. He has a weak heart," Trowa said vaguely. "I thought I should let you know."

"I want to see him," she said.

"You can't until tomorrow."

"Dammit, Trowa," she swore, "I want to see him now!"

"She wouldn't even let us see him," Trowa put his hands on her shoulders, "I'm sorry."

"Is he gonna die?" she asked.

"Don't even think like that, Dorothy!" Trowa cried, shaking her a little, "Quatre's much stronger than you think. He's a gundam pilot, he'll pull through. I _know _it."

Dorothy bit her lip, "it's not fair!" she put her hand to her forehead as stray tears came down her cheeks. Her tears made him uncomfortable. He could have done what he did on Libra, just leave her alone. But that wasn't what Quatre wanted. Trowa did what Quatre would've done: he held her. So he didn't have to see her tears, he closed his eyes.

"Quatre's gonna make it," Trowa mumbled, rubbing her head and stroking her hair as she cried on his shoulder, "I swear it."

****************

Duo was telling Hilde about Quatre, she took it hard, but not as hard as Dorothy. They were sitting side by side on the couch.

"Quatre?" Hilde gasped, "Oh no! Oh, Duo, I'm so sorry." She touched his arm, "is there _anything _I can do for you? Just name it."

Duo smiled at her thoughtfulness, "thanks, Hilde. But there's not much you can do."

"Poor Quatre," she said, "I hope he makes it. I mean, you're all like brothers. If something ever happened to one of you, your team wouldn't be the same."

"I never thought about it like that," Duo said, scratching his head, "being a brother to Heero. He tried to kill me, you know." Duo laughed lightly.

"Well, you hang out together all the time." Hilde cocked her head. "Sometimes you all stay at Quatre's mansion for sleepovers!"

"Yeah," Duo murmured, "gosh, this is terrible. I feel so awful."

"It's not your fault, Duo," Hilde put her arm around him, "you didn't know he had a heart condition."

"Still, we were working out too hard." Duo rubbed his forehead. "And we let him sit in the hot tub all by himself for too long while we worked out some more."

"I wonder if Dorothy knows," Hilde whispered, "and Relena."

"Trowa's telling Dorothy," Duo said, "and Heero's telling Relena."

"Poor Dorothy, she'll be heartbroken." 

"Quatre's sister, the doctor seemed to be pretty mad at us," Duo said, "she sounded like she was blaming us for it."

"Oh, Duo, don't take it to heart," she sighed, "she's just worried about her brother, he's the only one she's got you know."

"Yeah, but this thing shouldn't have happened. Quatre didn't deserve this."

"Hey, come on, Duo!" Hilde gave him a slight punch on the shoulder, "don't talk like that. You're usually so cheerful. Don't get so depressed."

"I feel so helpless," Duo moaned. "I can't help it. If Quatre dies…"

"Duo, stop it!" she stood up and bent down in front of him, "I don't want to hear you talk like that anymore, understand? You don't even know how bad Quatre's condition is."

"His sister said he might need sugery," he told her.

"Yeah, _might_, but you don't know for sure and you haven't even seen him yet." She put her hands on Duo's knees. "Everything will be fine when we visit him tomorrow, you'll see."

"I hope you're right," Duo murmured, cupping Hilde's face, "Hilde, for Quatre's sake, I hope you're right."

***********

Heero told Relena about Quatre. Relena was shocked, but she was about as calm as Hilde.

"That's terrible," Relena said with a frown, "is he going to be all right?"

"I don't know," Heero said honestly, "but I sure hope so."

"I wonder how Dorothy's taking this," Relena whispered, "does she know?"

Heero nodded, "Trowa told her."

"When can we see him?" Relena asked. "I'd like to see him."

"Not until tomorrow." Heero grumbled, "I don't understand why we couldn't' see him today. He's part of the team."

"You're all pretty tight, aren't you?" Relena asked him, leaning from her desk.

Heero looked down because he felt his cheeks turn warm, "well, we're a team."

"Almost like brothers," Relena said.

"Yeah, something like that," he mumbled, his head still turned down.

****************

"Quatre, can you hear me?" Iria leaned over him. All his sisters were in the room. "Open your eyes for me please."

Quatre breathed and slowly opened his eyes, "W-what what happened?" he asked.

"You had a heart attack," Iria answered, "how do you feel?"

"Weak."

"Iria, we should tell him," Diane, the second oldest said.

"No, Diane."

"Tell me what?" Quatre asked.

"Quatre, we have something important to tell you." Diane said, "but try to relax."

"What is it?" Quatre's heart started pounding. "Tell me."

"Quatre, you're a test tube baby like us," Iria murmured, "you were born naturally. Father didn't want you to know because he didn't want you to feel different."

"What?" Quatre sat up. His breathing labored, "I don't understand!"

"Quatre, relax!" Iria laid him back down. "Dammit, Diane, we should've waited until he was strong enough!"

"Listen, Quatre," Tiffany said, "it doesn't' change anything. You're still our brother and we love you."

"What happened to my mother?" Quatre demanded.

"She died giving birth to you."

Quatre's eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted again. 

"Quatre?" Iria loomed over him. There was a long beep on the monitor and her younger brother went into cardiac arrest, "No Quatre!" she immediately started CPR. His sisters began to cry as they yelled out his name.

"Quatreeeeee," a woman's voice called.

"Who's calling me?" Quatre found himself in fog. "Where-Where am I?"

A woman in a long white dress with long sleeves that hung from her wrists walked to him. She had bouncy curly blond hair and blue eyes much like Quatre's, "Quatre," she said with a smile, "Hello, Quatre."

Quatre raised an eyebrow at her, "who are you?"

"Quatreina Winner," she made a hurtful expression. "I'm surprised you don't remember me, Quatre." 

Quatre shook his head "How do you know my name?"

"Because, Quatre, I'm your mother," she smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"My mother?" Quatre gasped, "You're my mother?" Quatre ran to her, then stopped, "but wait a second. My mother's dead, then does that mean…"

"Hello, Quatre," a deep voice said. A man, Quatre's father appeared Quatreina.

"Father?" Quatre stepped back. "Mother? But…you're dead…"

"Yes, Quatre," Quatreina stepped forward and stroke his cheek, "you've grown up into a handsome young man. I'm so proud of you."

Quatre forced a smile, "I wondered where my blond hair and blue eyes came from." He looked at his father, "Father, I'm sorry."

"For what son?" his father asked.

"I've failed you."

"No you haven't, I'm so proud of you!"

"You are?" Quatre gasped, "but I became a gundam pilot. You didn't want me to fight. But I was fighting for you, Father!"

"I know." He put his hands on Quatre's shoulders, "we need someone to help fight for our family."

Quatre smiled, "I-I'm glad. So am I dead?"

"No," Quatreina said, "I just wanted to look at you. You're still a child, _my_ child. You have your whole life ahead of you, son."

"Besides," Quatre's father said, "without me around, who's going to walk your sisters down the aisle when they get married?"

Quatre chuckled. "Exactly."

"Quatre!" Iria's voice sounded miles away, "Please, Quatre, come back to me!" His other sisters rang in with hers. Quatre could hear Dorothy screaming and crying in the background.

"Take care of your heart, son," his father ordered.

"I will," Quatre said, "Father."

"I love you, my son!" Quatrina cried, embracing her son. "Oh, my beautiful boy."

"Mo-mother!" Quatre embraced her back with his eyes closed, when he opened them, he was in the arms of Iria.

"Welcome back," she said as a tear formed in her eye, "we almost lost you there. Don't you _dare_ scare me like that again!"

"I'm sorry," Quatre smiled. He looked up to see all his friends' faces in the door window. "Can I see my friends?"

"Well, for a little bit," she nodded to the door and his friends came in.

"Hey, Quatre, buddy!" Duo cried, "how's it goin'? Did you see heaven?"

"Yeah, I think so," Quatre replied.

They talked for a few minutes about how glad he pulled through and he slept for about thirty minutes. When he woke up, Dorothy was sitting on his bed, holding a container of Jell-O.

"Hi there," Dorothy said a smile, "thought you were hungry." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks," Quatre murmured, looking at the Jell-O, "hey, cherry, my favorite!"

"I know," she scooped the spoon in the Jell-O and began to spoon feed it to him. "I thought I lost you there. How come you never told me you had a heart condition?"

"I didn't want to burden you."

A week later, they were working out again, but Quatre's heart was stronger. "Hey, don't work it too hard, Quatre!" Duo warned, "we can't afford to lose a pilot."

"Hey don't worry," Quatre said, putting down a hand weight, "because, guys, my heart beats for you. I have 29 older sisters and you're all like my brothers. My heart beats for them as it beats for you."

End (touching, huh?)


End file.
